Current News, Events and Seminars
2013 Events and Seminars
Department of Neuroscience Seminar:
Ph.D. Dissertation Defesnse:
Monday, June 3, 2013
10:00 a.m.
Gil D. Hoftman
Center for Neuroscience
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences/Neuroscience
Seminar Title: Development of Cortical GABA Circuitry: Identifying Periods of Vulnerability to Schizophrenia
Location: 2nd Floor Auditorium, LRDC
Sponsor: Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Neuroscience
Department of Neuroscience Seminar:
Monday, June 3, 2013
4:00 p.m.
Pat Levitt, Ph.D.
Provost, Professor, and Director
Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute and Chair
Department of Cell & Neurobiology
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
Seminar Title: The Neurobiology of Social Behavior Development
Location: 2nd Floor Auditorium, LRDC
Sponsor: Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Neuroscience
Matt Schaff Receives Goldwater Scholarship!
As reported in the Pitt Chronicle, April 2, 2012, Matthew A. B. Schaff, a junior majoring in neuroscience and economics, is one of three University of Pittsburgh Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences' students to be named a 2012 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship winner for his exceptional independent research in the natural sciences. The students were nominated for the scholarships through the auspices of Pitt’s University Honors College.
Patricia White writes, "Schaff, a Pitt Honors Scholar from Strafford, Pa., is an undergraduate researcher in Pitt’s Neuropsychopharmacology of Nicotine Addiction Laboratory. He studies the reinforcement-enhancing effects of nicotine on rats through operant conditioning techniques under the direction of Alan Sved, a professor and chair in Pitt’s Department of Neuroscience, and Eric Donny, a professor in Pitt’s Department of Psychology.
Schaff also spent two summers conducting research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Neuropsychiatry Laboratory. An intern/contractor at The Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington, D.C., Schaff inaugurated the “Research Outreach Initiative,” which encourages scientists to perform K-12 outreach. He is a service volunteer in the Pitt Department of Biological Sciences and Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Mobile Science Lab Program. Schaff’s honors include the Center for Neuroscience Summer Undergraduate Fellowship and the University Honors College Fall Research Fellowship. He serves as president of the Pitt Neuroscience Club.
Schaff plans to earn a PhD in neuroscience and to conduct research on the causes of drug abuse, directing the focus of his future research toward understanding the way the brain processes and responds to rewarding stimuli, particularly commonly abused stimulants such as nicotine and cocaine. He hopes to teach at the university level".
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair, March 30-31, 2012
Department of Neuroscience sponsored awardees for the 73rd Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair which took place at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA are David Shipe and Julia Reese.
Julia Reese, a junior from Freeport Senior High School in Freeport, PA, presented a project entitled, "Zebrafish Embryo Use to Test Rx Drugs" in which she conducted experiments to determine if zebrafish embryos can successfully identify drugs with potential human cardiotoxicity. The results indicated that zebrafish embryos were able to identify the human cardiovascular effects of the majority of the drugs, showing that they can possibly be used as models for human drug research.
David Shipe, a sophomore from Freeport Senior High School, presented a project entitled "Excessive Breeding Affect Cognitive Ability of Mice?" in which he conducted experiments to determine and compare the cognitive ability of inbred, outbred and pet store mice.
Translational Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychiatry Seminar:
January 26, 2012
Thursday, Noon - 1:00 pm
David Moorman, Ph.D.
Medical University of South Carolina
Seminar Title: Characterizing the Neural Circuitry Underlying Motivated Decision-Making and its Collapse in Addiction
Location: 16th floor Conference Room - 1695 BST
Department of Neuroscience Seminar:
January 23, 2012
Monday, 9:30 am
Oliver Marcus Schluter, Ph.D.
Molecular Neurobiology, European Neuroscience Institute
Gottingen, Germany
Seminar Title: A Molecular Basis for Signaling Specificity in Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity
Location: A219B Langley Hall
Sponsor: Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Neuroscience
Pitt News Release: January 18, 2012
Teenagers' Brains Make Them More Susceptible to Addiction, Depression Than Adults
As published by Drs. Bita Moghaddam and David Sturman in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science research
"compared the brain activity of adolescents and adults in rats involved in a task in which they anticipated a reward". The study found "that not only is reward expectancy processed differently in an adolescent brain, but also it can affect brain regions directly responsible for decision-making and action selection".
Department of Neuroscience Seminar:
January 18, 2012
Wednesday, 9:30 am
Ju Young Kim, Ph.D.
Department of Neurology, Institute for Cell Engineering
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Seminar Title: Regulation of Neural Development in Dentate Neurons by Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1)
Location: A219B Langley Hall
Sponsor: Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Neuroscience
Dr. Edward Stricker, Dean of the University Honors College and Professor of Neuroscience, to deliver Honors College address - January 11, 2012
As reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today Dr. Edward Stricker describes family influences on his life, his passion for education, his academic and research years and his plans to address the University community of the state of the Honors College.
Department of Neuroscience Seminar
January 9, 2012
Monday, 9:30 am
Alexei Morozov, Ph.D.
Investigator
National Institute of Mental Health
Bethesda, MD
Seminar Title: Functional analysis of neural circuitry of emotions
Location: A219B Langley Hall
Sponsor: Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Neuroscience
Dr. Anthony A. Grace Named Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Anthony Grace, Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience, was recently honored as a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his contributions to cellular and systems studies of the brain’s dopamine system as it relates to understanding the mechanisms of schizophrenia.
